RLCS roster shuffle chaos: Ronaky joins Barcelona, Alpha54 to TSM

They weren’t joking when they said the RLCS roster shuffle wasn’t even close to being done. The European RLCS seems to be in chaos after a revelation that came out of absolutely nowhere: Triple Trouble announced captain Aldin “Ronaky” Hodzic’s departure from the team, while Yanis “Alpha54” Champenois is about to join TSM. Triple Trouble has only been in the RLCS for a single season and had exceptionally good results straight off the bat. Having made fifth-eighth place at the World Championships, they, alongside FC Barcelona, had the best finish for a newly promoted team ever. But now it seems the family-like team has broken up in dramatic fashion. Teammate Euan “Tadpole” Ingram made himself clear about the situation, calling it “sheer lack of professionalism.”

Sad to see my teammate of 18 months leaving, especially with the sheer lack of professionalism from pretty much every person and organisation involved in it, although that seems to be a regular off-season thing at this point I guess. No idea what the plan is from here. https://t.co/pKNnn8uIll

— Tadpole 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@TadpoleRL) July 29, 2019

Ronaky joins FC Barcelona

Both Liquipedia and The Game Haus report that, according to sources, Ronaky will join FC Barcelona. However, former teammate Tadpole tweeted that Ronaky signed a contract without informing his teammates first. This occurred while they were already trying out a new third in Jordan “EyeIgnite” Stellon to replace Andy “Kassio” Landais. But if they want to retain their RLCS spot, they now must keep Kassio. Instead, they’ll have to find a replacement for Ronaky.

There were rumors of FC Barcelona making a change in their roster, but all of them involved Daniel “Bluey” Bluett. The rumors were unfounded and quoted an “inside source,” but there was never any basis for it. Now it turns out they are indeed making a transfer, but not with Bluey. Season 7 League Play MVP Alpha45 is the one leaving the team. And while the reason is yet to be stated, rumor has it that it was Alpha who wanted to replace Bluey, wouldn’t get his way, and decided to find his luck elsewhere.

Alpha54 to join TSM

With EyeIgnite being removed from TSM for underwhelming results, the question was who would replace him. According to the aforementioned sources, that would appear to be Alpha54, which comes completely out of left field. Alpha was FCB’s strongest player and major revelation after making his debut in the RLCS. Many had already seen his talents in the RLRS, but he proved to be just as dangerous at the highest level. If EyeIgnite’s addition to Triple Trouble is final, this transfer would complete the cycle among Ronaky, EyeIgnite, and Alpha, who will all be replacing each other. Whether this transfer will actually work out is another question altogether. For TSM it’s most certainly an upgrade, but for Alpha to leave Europe’s second-best team to join a roster that even failed to qualify for the world championships? We can’t wait to see how this pans out.

What do you predict for these roster moves? Which is the better of the two? Let us know in the comments below.